Gavel Toastmasters Clubs

Toastmaster Irene Chen from Hong Kong and I met for lunch to continue our discussions about the Toastmasters development in Asia Monday morning, November 24th.

We first met at the famous DinTaiFung steamed dumpling restaurant on Hsin-yi Road at 11:30. There was a long queue of Japanese tourists. We saw a LED light of waiting time of 120 minutes. Oh, My God. DinTaiFung must be one of the most famous restaurants in the world. Without a second thought, we decided to change a restaurant. Irene had a list of good restaurants in her pocket notebook, including 喫飯食堂, 大隱酒食, 小隱私廚, 豐盛食堂 (Fong-sheng Eatery). We settled upon the Fong-sheng, the shop name literally mens sumptuous.

It was my first time at Fong-sheng Eatery. I love their pork lard rice, I had two bowls. The dishes were of Taiwanese and Hakka styles. I love their pork rib stewed with dried cauliflower, baked pumpkin with white and black sesame balls. After lunch, Joy Chyr invited Irene and me to her newly renovated apartments for coffee. Joy talked about her business plan for a training center for young people on the 3rd floor and a recreation center for senior citizens on the 9th floor.

Irene shared with me her 12 years experience helping high school students with the youth leadership program. She has successfully connected the Toastmasters clubs on campus with gavel clubs* in high schools in Hong Kong. I admired her vision to coach communication and leadership skills in young people. I also have a strong urge to help high school students establish gavel clubs among them.

In 2014, Irene has visited Taiwan 8 times. She knows more restaurants in Taipei than I do. I hope Irene can come back to Taipei soon and share with us a few good restaurants to satisfy our taste buds.

Remarks: 
Toastmasters Gavel Clubs are not required to have a minimum number of members. The Club Counselor (person in charge) must be a Toastmaster in good standing. Counselor must have completed at least 6 speeches. The sponsoring organization preferably a Toastmasters club makes a donation to help gavel club get chartered (about $100). After the gavel club paperwork has been filled out and submitted to TMI, the club counselor will receive a new club kit, including 20 CCs and CLs, a gavel, membership cards, evaluation forms. The meeting roles of a gavel clubs are Gaveliers (members), Ringleader (Toastmaster), Coach (Evaluator), Head Coach (GE), Inquisitor (Table Topics Master), Wizard of Ahs (Ah Counter). Chartering a Gavel Club could be regarded as the High Performance Leadership Project (HPLP) for Advanced Leadership Silver (ALS).